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Famous breakfast cereal 'comes out of closet'

Frosted Lucky Charms, they're magically 'gaylicious'

Published: 07/02/2013 at 1:48 PM

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Did the Supreme Court’s recent decision to unleash same-sex marriage on America leave you hungering to celebrate lesbian, “gay,” bisexual and transgender pride? Well, look no further than your cereal bowl!

Fruity Cheerios maker General Mills now ranks among the top companies in America with policies beneficial to homosexual and transgender workers.

General Mills, the company that introduced the nation’s children to characters like the Honey Nut Bee, the silly Trix rabbit and Lucky the Leprechaun, has come out in support of the “gay” community by filling boxes of their cereal brand Lucky Charms with rainbow-colored marshmallows.

The “magically gaylicious” cereal is serving as the face of the new #LuckyToBe campaign which encourages people “lucky enough to be different” to use the hashtag #LuckyToBe when tweeting and posting online.

“We’re celebrating Pride month with whimsical delight, magical charms, and two new rainbow marshmallows,” the #LuckyToBe campaign stated in a press release sent to GLAAD.

WND reported when General Mills, based in Minneapolis, announced its public support for homosexual marriage when a state constitutional amendment was introduced in Minnesota in 2012 to ban “gay” unions.

“General Mills doesn’t normally take positions on ballot measures; this is a business issue that impacts our employees,” said Ken Charles, General Mills vice president of diversity.

“We value diversity. We value inclusion. We always have … and we always will. We’re proud of our workplace, and we’re proud to be a leader for diversity and inclusion in our community. For decades, General Mills has worked to create an inclusive culture that welcomes and values the contributions of all.”

The company’s stance didn’t sit well with some shareholders.

“I really had a heavy heart and it saddened me that General Mills took a political stance on the amendment,” one shareholder said during the meeting’s question-and-answer period. “Whether for or against, I don’t think politically you should have taken a stand on that.”

Another shareholder asked, “What was the reason for the company to get involved when perhaps over 50 percent of your customer base will be offended? I just don’t understand the rationale.”

Two other shareholders commended General Mills for its stance. One agreed that changing the state constitution over marriage rights is a business issue. Another said simply, “I would like to commend you for taking a stand on discrimination of any kind in the workplace.”

Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, or NOM, told WND the General Mills position on same-sex marriage “will go down as one of the dumbest corporate PR stunts of all time.”

“Marriage as the union of one man and one woman is profoundly in the common good, and it is especially important for children,” Brown told WND in 2012. “General Mills makes billions marketing cereal to parents of young children. It has now effectively declared a war on marriage with its own customers when it tells the country that it is opposed to preserving traditional marriage, which is what the Minnesota Marriage Protection Amendment does.”

NOM points out U.S. Census Bureau data indicating that there are just over 100,000 same-sex households in America with children under the age of 18. The group contrasts that with the over 35 million traditional American households with children under 18.

General Mills is hardly alone among American companies jumping on the bandwagon to provide support for homosexual and transgender employees.

As WND reported in 2009, the company was among more than 300 firms to receive perfect 100-percent scores in 2009′s Corporate Equality Index, produced annually by the Human Rights Campaign, which ranks businesses on their “treatment” of employees who have chosen homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgender lifestyles.

Note: The Corporate Equality Index produced by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation can be viewed here.